Breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass-drawing machines



Dec. 15,, 1925 T. B. CAMPBELL, JR

BREAKING AND TRANSFERRING MECHANISM FOR SHEET GLASS DRAWING MACHINES1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11.

INVENTOR wfi W1,

WITNESSESS MM.

Dec. 15 1925 I 1,565,710 T. B. CAMPBELL JR BREAKING AND TRANSFERRINGMECHANISM FOR SHEET GLASS DRAWING MACHINES Filed April 11. 1923 2Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES;

INVENTOR amaw/ PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. CAIPBELL, 13., OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

BREAKING AND TBANSIEBBING IECHANISI FOB IAGHINIS.

SHEET-GLABS-DRAWING Application filed April 11, 192:. Serial Io. cameo.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. CAMP- BELL, J r., a citizen of the UnitedStates,.and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the count of Allegheny andState of Pennsylvania, ave invented a new and useful Improvement inBreakin and Transferring Mechanism for Sheet-G ass-Drawing Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification;

This invention relates to glass drawing apparatus, and particularly to abreaking and transferring mechanism for use in connection with asheet-glass drawingdevice.

It is a generalobject of the invention to rovide a combined breaking andtranserring mechanism of the type referred to which is simple anddurable in construction, which contains a minimum number of parts, whichis free of parts which will readily get out of order, and which ishighly efiicient in'operation.

It is a special object to provide a breaking and transferring mechanismin which all of the arts constantly move in a single predetermineddirection, and in which all of said arts partake of a rotary or circularmotion in contra-distinction to a reciprocating or oscillating one forthe purpose of avoiding abru t changes in the direction of travel andending to the anoothnem of operation.

It is another special object to provide a breakin and transferringmechanism in which t e arms of the rotary carrier, for receiving theseveral severed sections or panes and depositing the same upon theconveyor, terminate in close proximity to the normal vertical path oftravel of the drawn sheet, and in which the said arms may be freelyprojected between the several sections comprising the conveyor fordelivering the severed sheets or panes to the leers.

Other special objects are to provide a mechanism of the characterreferred to which can be easily adjusted to accommodate sheets ofvarying thickness and of dif-' In the accom anyin drawings Fig. 1 is aplan view oft e pre erred embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 a sideelevation of the mechanism illustrated in Fig.1; Fig. 3 a verticalsectional view taken substantially on the line Ill -III of F i1,,illustrating the partsin the positions wfiich they assume when thebreaking off cam is in its inoperative position; and Fi 4 a view similarto Fig. 3 showing the re ative positions which the parts assume when thebreaking off cam has reached its operative position, and illustratmg themethod of transferring the severed sections or panes onto the rotatingcarrier.

The present invention has been particularly designed for use inconnection with sheet-glass drawin machines in which the sheet of formedg ass is constantly drawn upwardly in a vertical-'path, for instance inan apparatus such as illustrated and descri in my previousl filedapplication Serial No. 524,531, filed ecember 23, 1921,

the supporting frame work for the drawing mechanism being indicated at1, on the to *of which is located the platform 2 whic not only carriesthe breaking and transferring mechamsm. forming the subject matter ofthis invention but also the operat ing and driving mechanism (not shown)for actuatin the drawing apparatus, all as clearly ascribed in theaforesaid application.

Thedrawn sheet of glass is'lindicated at 3, passing upwardly throughaii'opening 4 formed in t e platform 2. Adjacent the opening 4 and theone side thereof is the cutting or. scoring device indicated. generallyat 5. The cutting device used may be of any suitable construction andforms no art of the present invention, except in so ar as it is embracedin the novel combination defined in the claims. That illustrated in thedrawings corre ends to the type shown .in application rial No. 524,531,above noted, and consists of a block 6 in which the cutter 7 is fixed,said block being mounted for reciprocation on cross pieces 8, 8'. Block6 is attached to the upper limb of an endless chain 9 engaging sprocketwheels 10, 10', fixed to shafts suitably ournaled at the opposite sidesof the plat orm. The opposite end of the shaft to which wheel 10 isfixed carries a pinion 11 which in turn is operatively connected throughthe sprocket chain 12 and the remaining gearing shown in the drawings toa reciprocating rack bar 13 adapted to be actuated in prop-' erly timedrelation to the remaining parts by the energization and deenergizationof the solenoids 14, 14', all as clearly set forth in my previouslyfiled application. This cutting or scoring device while forming no partof the present invention, except in so far as it is embraced in thenovel combination of associated elements, has been generally describedso as to clearly indicate its relation to the drawn sheet and theseveral parts forming the combined breaking and transferring deviceproper, the construction of which will now be set forth more in detail.

Located at the opposite sides of the platform 2 are the upstanding walls15, 15, which serve as elongated standards in which to journal theseveral shafts, and upon which to mount the necessary supportingbrackets and bearings. Mounted in the members 15, 15' immediately abovethe cutting or scoring device 5 is a air of guide rollers 16, 17 ofcorrespondmg size, the roller 16 being rendered adjustable in ahorizontal lane by means of a Well known type of ad ustable bearingillustrated at 18 inthe drawings. Theroller 17 is provided throughoutits entire length with the alternately arranged enlarged ortions 17 andthe reduced portions 17", t e peripheries of the enlarged portions 17and the roller 16 being spaced apart so as to provide a guide slottherebetween, the guide slot being disposed in alignment with the normalvertical path of travel of the drawn sheet 3. A breaking shaft 19 islikewise journaled in the members 15, 15, and is rendered Verticallyadjustable by means of the adjustable bearing indicated at 20, it beingunderstood that both ends of the roller 16 and of the shaft 19 areequipped with adjustable bearings of the character indicated. The shaft19 is provided at its intermediate portion with the breaking cams 21,two being preferably employed as clearly shown in Fig. 1. The shaft 19is preferably of the same diameter as theroller 16, and is dis posed instrict vertical alignment therewith, so as to lie immediately adjacentthe upward path of travel of the drawn sheet.

Journalled at one side of the guide rolls 16, 17, and in a planecorresponding to the axis of said rolls, is the shaft 22 of a rotatablecarrier. The carrier consists of a plurality of sets of radiallyextending arms 23, 23, three sets of said arms being used in theembodiment illustrated in the drawings. These radial arms are attachedto the shaft 22. and are so mounted as to permit their extremities toproject into close proximity with the reduced portions 17" of the guideroller 17, the ends of the arms passing through the spaces providedbetween the enlarged portions 17. One face of the radial arms isprovided adjacent its end with a notch 24, immediately adjacent to whichis aflixed a transversely extending finger 25, the finger 25 beinglocated intermediate the said notch and the shaft 22 and is slightlyinclined towards the axis of the carrier.

Disposed at the side of the rotatable carrier opposite to the guiderolls and breaking cams is an endless belt conveyor indicated generallyby. the reference numeral 26. Thisconveyor is of a well'known type, andconsists of a series of shafts 27, 28, 29 and 30, suitably journalled inthe supporting brackets or standards 31, lateral extensions of themembers 15, 15, and a pair of arms 32, 32 projecting from one side ofthe members 15, 15. The outer extremities of the armsv32, 32' aresupported by the inclined braces 33, the lower ends of which may besuitably attached to the frame work 1. The conveyor 26. consists of aplurality of spaced apart belt sections 34, 34, 34", and 34 the innerends of which cooperate with supporting drums 35, 35,"35" and 35",respectively, each of these drums being mounted upon a stub shaftcorresponding to the shaft 27 located at the upper ends of individualsupporting standards so as to leave a free space vbetween the adjacentsections of the con veyor, through which spaces the radial arms 1 of therotatable carrier are adapted to pass. (See particularly Fig. 1.)

Fixed to the extremities of the shafts for the rollers 16 and 17 are theintermeshing gears 36 and 37, said gears being of similar size so as torotate the rolls at a corresponding speed. Power is supplied to theguide rolls by means of a sprocket chain 38 and sprocket wheel 39, thechain 38 being driven from any suitable portion of the actuatingmechanism for the drawing apparatus, previously referred to. The shaftof the roller 17 at the end opposite to which the gear 37 is attached issupplied with a sprocket wheel 40 with which meshes the sprocket chain41, in turn meshing with a sprocket wheel 42 attached at one end of theshaft 30, thus serving to drive the conveyor 26.

Attached to one end of the shaft. 19'is a sprocket wheel 43, while atits opposite end is afiixed the sprocket wheel 44., Suitably journalledat one end in a supporting bracket 45 and at their opposite ends in themember 15' is a pair of stub shafts 46, 47, and attached to the stubshafts at an intermediate point are the gear wheels 48, 49,respectively. The stub shafts 46, 47 have also attached thereto therespective sprocket wheels 50 and 51. The shaft 22 has also attachedthereto at the end corres onding to the location of the sprocket w eels50 and 51a sprocket wheel 52. The sprocket wheels 44 and 50 areoperativel connected by a sprocket chain 53 while t e sprocket wheels 51and 52 are likewise connected by a sprocket chain 54. The sprocketwheels 44, 50 and 51 are of a corresponding size, while the sprocketwheel 52 is twice the size of the aforesaid sprocket wheels so as toestablish a gear ratio of two to one between the shaft 19 and the shaft52. The reason for this particular gear ratio is for the purpose ofsecuring a breaking effect from the breaking cams 21 twice during eachrevolution of the rotatable carrier. It is obvious that such gear ratiomust be employed where each set of arms 23, 23' are arranged with theradial arms spaced 180 apart. It will be obvious, however, that in casethe angular spacing of these arms is varied, for instance by theemployment of three radial arms spaced 120 instead of two arms spaced180, the gear ratio between the breaking shaft and the rotatable carriershaft will be correspondingly changed, that is, to a ratio of three toone. Power is sup lied to the sprocket wheel 43 by means 0 the sprocketchain 55 for the purpose of driving both the breaking shaft and therotatable carrier, as just explained. The sprocket chain 55 likesprocket chain 38 is driven from any suitable connection with theactuating mechanism for the drawing apparatus which may be suitablymounted at one side of the latform 2, as in my aforesaid applicationerial No. 524,531.

In the operation of the invention, the drawn sheet 3 passes upwardlythrough the opening 4 and through the space provided between theenlarged portions of the roll 17 and the roll 16, and the cutting orscoring device 5 is actuated periodically in order to score the drawnsheet transversely in a well known manner. The sheet is guided duringits upward movement by the guide slot formed between the two guiderolls, assing immediately adjacent the breaking s aft 19 during suchupward movement. The parts are so proportioned that when the sheet hasreached a point to bring the line of scoring just above the axes of theguide rollers, the cams 21 will deflect the upper end of the sheetlaterally, effecting a breaking off or a snapping free of the section ofglass along the previously scored line. The breaking action occurs atthe time that theradial arms of the rotatable carrier occupy the fullline position indicated in Fig. 4. Upon breakage the resiliency of theglass sheet assisted by the tendency of the roller 17 to transfer thelower edge of the severed section 56 towards the right, results indepositing the severed section upon the extremity of the radial arm 23,23, as the case may be. Although the severed sheet, withthe partsproperly proportioned will remain upon the rotatable carrier untildeposited upon the endless belt conveyor in a manner to be subsequentlydescribed, in order to obviate accidental displacement, the notches 24are provided into which the lower edges of the severed sectionsareadapted to settle, and the transversely extending fingers 25 areinclined slightly away from the normal towards the axis of the carriershaft.

After the severed section 56 has been deposited upon the rotatablecarrier, the same is transported upon rotation of the carrier from theposition indicated by the full lines in Fig. 4 to the position indicatedby the dotted lines in said figure or by the full lines in Fig. 3.Subsequent rotary movement in a clockwise direction, after reaching theposition shown in Fig. 3, results in depositing the sheet upon theendless belt conveyor for delivery to the leers in the usual manner. Thecontinued rotation of the radial arms is unobstructed by the conveyorsections due to the free passage of the arms between the open spacesprovided between the supporting drums 35 to 35 as previously described.

During a single rotation of the shaft 22 each of the radial arms 23, 23,receives a severed section or pane in the manner set forth and deliversthe same onto the endless conveyor. The breaking shaft 19 being gearedto the shaft of the carrier in the proper ratio, as set forth, thebreaking mechanism and the carrier operate constantly in properly timedrelation with each other.

Due to the mounting of the shaft for the guide roll 16 in such mannerthat it may be adjusted in a horizontal plane provides means foraccommodating the mechanism to drawn sheets of varying thicknesses,while the vertical adjustment for the breaking shaft 19 similarlyprovides means for adapting the parts to sheets orpanes of differentlengths, in an obvious manner.

It is thus seen that the invention provides a very simple and compactmechanism for securing an effective breaking ofl of the severed sectionsor panes in a sheet glass drawing apparatus, one which is free ofcomplicated parts and eflicient in operation, one which is entirelyautomatic in its action and adjustable for various sized sections orpanes, and one which may be readily attached or adapted to use withsheet-glass drawingmachines already in use.

I claim:

1. A breaking and transferring meclnv 'nism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising an abutment adjacent thepath of movement of thedrawn sheet, means spaced from said abutment for deflecting the portionof the sheet beyond the abutment away from said path whereby to breakthe same transversely to form detached sections, and a rotatable carrierdisposed at one side of the abutment for receiving the detachedsections, said carrier beingmounted for free and complete revolutionabout its pivotal support.

2. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising an'abutment adjacent the path of movement of thedrawn sheet, provided with a guide slot through which the drawn sheetasses, means spaced from said abutment for deflecting the portion of thesheet beyond the said slot away from saidpath whereby to snap the sametransversely to form detached sections, and a rotatable carrier spacedfrom and at one side of the guide slot for receiving the detachedsections, said carrier being mounted for free and complete revolutionabout its pivotal support.

3. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising spaced rolls forming a guide slot therebetweenthrough which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, means spaced from thesaid rolls for periodically deflecting the ortion of the sheet beyondthe rolls away rom its normal path of movement whereby to sever thesheet and form detached sections, and a rotatable carrier disposed atone side of the rolls having arms extending into close proximity theretofor receiving the said severed sections, said carrier being mounted forfree and complete revolution about itspivotahsupport, and-the axis ofthe carrier being spaced from the said slot a distance greater than thelengthof the said arms.

*4. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising spaced rolls forming a guide slot therebetweenthrough which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, a shaft mounted at oneside of the path of travel of the drawn sheet beyond the guide slot, acam on said shaft adapted to contact the drawn sheet to deflect the sameaway from the said path whereby to break the terminal portion of thedrawnsheet to form detached sections, and a rotatable carrierhaving armsthe ex tremities of'which extend into close proximity to one of the saidguide rollsfor receiving the detached sections, said carrier beingmounted for free and COlIlPlGtBlGVOllltlOl'l about its pivotal support,and the axis of the carrier being spaced from the said slot a di tanccgreater than the length of the said arms.

5. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising a pair of spaced guide rollsforming a guide slottherebetween through which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, one ofsaid rolls being provided with a series of alternately arranged enlargedand reduced portions, a shaftmounted at one side of the path oftravel ofthe drawn sheet above the guide slot, a cam on the said shaft adapted tocontact the drawn sheet todeflect the same away from its path of travelwhereby to break the drawn sheet transversely to form detached sections,and a rotatable carrier having radial arms disposed atone side of saidguide rolls, the extremities of said radial arms projecting between saidenlarged portions and in close proximity to the said reduced portionsfor receiving the said detached sections.

6. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising a pair of spaced guide rolls forming a guide slottherebetween through which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, one ofsaid rolls being provided with a series of alternately arranged enlargedand reduced portions, a shaft mounted at one side of the path of travelof the drawn sheet above the guide slot, a cam on the said shaft adaptedto contact the drawn sheet to deflect the same away from its path oftravel whereby to break the drawn sheet transversely to form detachedsections, a rotatable carrier having radial arms disposed at one side ofsaid guide rolls, the extremities of said radial arms projecting betweensaid enlarged portions and in close proximity to the said reducedportions for receiving the.

saiddetached sections, and an endless conveyor disposed adjacent thecarrier at the side opposite the said guide rolls, said conveyorconsisting of a plurality of spaced apart sections, the said arms of thecarrier being adapted to pass intermediate the said conveyor sections. a

7. A breaking and transferring mecha nism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising spaced rolls forming a guide slot therebetweenthrough which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, a shaft mounted at oneside of the path of travel of the drawn sheet beyond the guide slot, acam on said shaft adapted to contact the drawn sheet to deflect the sameaway from said path whereby to break off the terminal ortion of thedrawn sheet to form detache sections, and a rotatable carrier havingradial arms the extremities of which extend into close proximity to oneof said guide rolls, and transverse fingers fixed to said arms adjacentthe ends thereof.

8. A breaking and transferring mechanism for'sheet-glass drawingmachines com- I prising spaced rolls forming a guide slot therebetweenthrough which the drawn sheet is adapted to pass, a shaft mounted atdeflect the same away from said path whereby to break off the terminalportion of the drawn sheet to form detached sections, and a rotatablecarrier having radial arms the extremities of which extend into closeproximity to one of said guide rolls,

' adjacent conveyor sections.

9. In combination with a sheet-glass drawing-machine, a cutting orscoring device, a pair of spaced rolls mounted thereabove providedwith-a guide slot therebetween through which the drawn sheet is adaptedto pass, a breaking cam located above the said guide slot adapted tocontact and deflect the drawn sheet away from its normal vertical pathof movement whereby to sever the portion of the sheet along the line atwhich it was previously scored, a rotating carrier having radial armsprojecting into close proximity to the guide rolls, and a conveyorconsisting of a plurality of spaced sections, the said radial arms beingadapted to pass intermediate adjacent sections of the said conveyor.

10. A breaking and transferring mechanism for sheet-glass drawingmachines comprising a scoring device, a pair of spaced guide rollsthereabove forming a guide slot therebetween through which the drawnsheet is adapted to pass, one of said rolls being provided with a seriesof alternately arranged enlarged and reduced portions, the remainingroll being adjustable to and from the first named roll, a verticallyadjustable shaft mounted above and at one side of the path of travel ofthe drawn sheet, a deflecting cam on said shaft adapted to contact andbend the said sheet laterally whereby to break the same along the lineat which it was previously scored to form detached sections, a rotatablecarrier having radial arms extending between the said enlarged portionsof the guide roll, each of said arms being provided with a notchadjacent its extremity and with a transversely extending finger disposedat the inner edge of the notch, said transverse-fingers being slightlyinclined towards the axis of the carrier, and an endless conveyorconsisting of a plurality of spaced apart sections, the said radial armsof the carrier being adapted to pass intermediate adjacent sections.

11. The combination with a vertical glass drawing machine and a carrierdevice extending laterally from the line of draw, of a'transfer devicein the form of a flat sided member mounted. for rotation below thecarrier and having projecting supporting ledges at the ends of each ofthe sides of the member.

In testimony whereof, I sign my name.

THOMAS E. CAMPBELL, JR.

